Eaten Alive
by The Atomic Cafe
Summary: A cannibalistic vampire, Danny finished.


**Eaten Alive**

**By Dimgwrthien**

_Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: NY or affiliates._

Don Flack held the wrist of Ethan Falk, glancing up the street at his cop car. Ethan glared up at Don, his stringy, blonde hair covering this dark eyes. Handcuffed, he looked more like a sulking child than a drug dealer who had been chased down a busy street with packets of cocaine lining his route.

Shoving Ethan, Don glanced around again, seeing the curious looks people gave them. Roy, a tall guard with a heavy holster places threatening on his hip, kept one hand on Ethan's shoulder.

Ethan stopped in his tracks, keeping still even as Don shoved him forward. The man's mouth opened, hanging there for a moment, staring toward the ground to their right, eyes unseeing. Then he began screaming, yelling for help, trying to shake his way from the metal cuffs holding him.

"Fuck!" he shouted, turning to Roy, eyes impossibly wide. His breath started to come in sharp gasps. "There's a fuckin' body there!"

Don gave Roy a look, watching Roy's hold tighten on Ethan as Don walked into the alley, one hand on his gun.

A small boy, possibly five or six, sat against the wall, a garbage bag covering one of his legs. Don turned, trying to see the reason why the child hadn't blinked or moved. It took him a minute to see - or possibly understand - the gaping holes through the child's neck and chest. Don stared right back into the sightless green eyes, then pulled his gun out with one hand, his cell phone with the other.

He dialed a number and waited for the answer. "Mac? My criminal found something."

"What?"

"Well," Don started, still trying to understand everything, "I think it's a child."

"Return him to his mother," came Mac's disgruntled reply. "Don, just send Roy with the -"

"I don't think it's a living child."

Mac sighed. "Don, make up your mind. Is it a child or a dead child?"

"The… wounds are telling' me something along Sid's line of work."

Silence. "Where are you?"

"One-forty-first, just East of seventh." Don glanced around, trying to find a distinguishing building, but he failed. Plenty of them looked minutes away from crumbling, and none seemed to be any that Mac would know. "We have a cop car right out of here. I can send Roy in with Falk and stay here."

"Good. I'll be out there as soon as I can. Hold on it, Don."

Don hung up the phone, still watching the child. Several flies landed on the tears. Don looked away. "Roy?" The cop raised his eyebrows. "Take the bastard up. I'll be waiting here for Mac to get this."

Roy nodded, leading Ethan, who still stared in Don's direction, away.

Don took care not to go any closer to the boy than he had to. He tried to take his mind off of the scene by walking to the mouth of the alley and watching the people going by. Most were big men, making the usual cliché of the street seem true. Several women passed, all seeming to huddle in groups.

A car pulled up within a few minutes, and Don had to breathe a sigh of relief that the office was close by. Mac, Stella, and Danny climbed out of the car, slamming the doors shut, all carrying their silver cases.

"You found him when you called me?" Mac asked, walking up to Don's level and glancing by the bags, seeing the child.

Don nodded and heard Danny mutter, "Jesus!" as he saw. Stella said nothing.

Casting a glance at Danny, Mac asked, "You know better than to touch him, right?" At Don's look, he added, "Precaution. Could have knocked something over."

"I wouldn't wanna touch that." Don covered his nose with a sleeve. "I'm hopin' that's only gangrene. Haven't smelled anything' that bad in ages."

Danny nodded. "Tell me I don't hafta sit next to it in the car."

Mac smiled slightly. "We can hook it up to the bumper, then." He kneeled down, snapping on white gloves, looking at the boy. "I'd put him at six. Born around ninety-nine. Light brown hair, green eyes. We can go check in Missing Persons once we're back at the lab."

Stella pulled out a notebook from one of the oversized pockets on her jacket, making a note.

Mac turned his head, looking over the boy once more. "Danny? Could you get the pictures done so that we can move him?"

Danny pulled at the strap around his neck, walking forward to take pictures of the boy. He leaned forward and back, trying to get each of the grounds, focusing on the wounds, then the whole boy. As he did so, he coughed a few times. "None of them usually smell this bad."

Stella sniffed the air, frowning. "I know that smell. I just can't put my finger on it…."

Once Danny finished with the pictures, he put the camera against his case, slipping on his own gloves. Stella handed her notebook to Don, who held the pen up, ready to write anything.

Mac carefully picked up the boy from under the neck and knees, pulling him out from the trash bags, grimacing as the smell hit him. He set the boy gently on the pavement a few feet away. Danny climbed over the bags, looking at the first position, moving the trash to see the wall and floor better.

Stella turned the kid's legs, looking under them. "Mac, can you shift him to show his back?"

Mac did so, and Stella smirked at what she saw. "Burnt. That's where I know the smell from."

The child's back had the shirt torn as though in a fit of rage, the skin starting to blacken from burns. A light red framed the worst of the burning, inflamed but not completely damaged.

"Call in a squad car to get him back to the morgue," Mac ordered, turning to Don. "We'll start picking up traces."

Don nodded and got on his cell phone again as Danny continued to shift bags, looking around the area. Stella started turning the boy back over, looking around his throat where most of the wounds seemed to be. "I haven't seen anything like this recently," she remarked, glancing up at Mac.

Mac turned the boy's head. "Strange marks. I haven't seen it either. Reminds me of…"

Stella paused. "Of what?"

"Bite wounds." Mac shrugged. "Too deep, though. I doubt any teeth could get through the veins like that. Unless it was a big animal, but I don't think I'm ready for a repeat of a tiger ripping a man apart."

"And when it's just a baby." Stella rested her elbows on her knees. "I think Danny found something."

Sure enough, Danny stood away from the wall, staring at it in confusion. Mac and Stella joined him, trying to see it. Nothing stained the walls or floor.

Mac turned to Don, who was just hanging up the phone. "Come look at this."

Don joined, staring for a moment. "I don't see anything. No blood anywhere."

"Obviously a dumping spot," Stella muttered, "but those usually have blood."

"Bite marks and no blood," Mac mused. "Only one take from there."

"A cannibalistic vampire," Danny ended.

The sounds of a car neared, and Don and Danny started to pick up the boy, leaving Mac and Stella watching.

"Who would attack a boy and drain his blood?" Stella asked. She crossed her arms, frowning.

"Right now, I'm wondering whether the biting was human or animal." Mac met her glance. "Not much to do right now until autopsy."

Stella nodded, then rubbed her cheek absently. "Yeah. I'm just still amazed that someone would attack a kid."

"Everyone attacks everyone. Child murderers, murdering children…" Mac's lips tightened. "Let's head back to the lab for the results. Looks like some officers are finally here to take care of the scene."

She nodded, and the two headed into one more day of trials, errors, and an unknown intention for murder.


End file.
